Triumph of the Immaculate Heart
“Do not be dismayed. I will never forsake you. My Immaculate Heart shall be your refuge and the road that shall lead you to God.”
– Our Lady of Fatima
Dear Friends of Carmel,
This newsletter will be slightly different from our usual letters, as we want to share an uplifting story in the life of our Carmel this past year: a rather remarkable favor granted to us through the intercession of Our Lady of Fatima and St Anthony! “In the end, my Immaculate Heart will triumph.” These words of hope from our Heavenly Mother, first uttered in 1917 at Fatima, never fail to encourage, guide and comfort souls as the years pass. The troubled world of then has only become the yet more troubled world of today. Did she not warn of devastating wars, famine, persecution of the Church and her faithful and the loss of many souls? Yes, we all recognize this as the world we live in today.
As you know, we always attach ribbon relics to our relic badges. The ribbon is touched either to the relics of a Saint or holy place, etc. We make numerous badges and send them all over the world, so sometimes our supplies run low, and the story starts with our efforts to obtain another supply of special ribbon for Our Lady of Fatima relic badge. While we always touch the ribbon to our own relic of Our Lady’s veil, we wanted to touch it to all of the sacred places at Fatima as well.
In cases such as this, we count on the pilgrimages of friends and relatives, who carefully carry the ribbon wherever they go in their holy travels. Last year, the mother of our English Sister (Mrs. C) joined a pilgrimage to Fatima – and happily took on the somewhat sacrificial honor of being our “ribbon bearer” – to take time and trouble to touch all the holy sites of the Fatima history.
Arriving in Portugal the 9th of May, the Pilgrims were based in Fatima. Over the next few days, the bolts of ribbon were touched to the three main apparition sites of the Angel of Portugal, the tombs of Francisco and Jacinta, and Valinhos, the site where Our Lady appeared to the children on August 19th (due to their being unable to meet Our Lady on the appointed day of the 13th at the Cova, since they were kidnapped by the apostate mayor of Ourém). So far, all was going smoothly. The last, and most important, destination was the Cova itself.
At the evening rosary and candle-lit procession of May 13th, Mrs. C, unable to reach the high spot where Our Lady had stood, passed the ribbon to a kind cameraman in the sanctuary of the Cova, who agreed to touch it to that sacred spot. Their miscommunication about where to meet up after his work caused loss of contact. Mrs. C. returned to the site the next day to make inquires at the various offices around the sanctuary, but with the huge surge of pilgrims and the language barrier, her attempt to find the “kind cameraman” and the ribbon failed. Early in the morning of the 14th, our Carmel received Mrs. C’s distressed phone call: it seemed as though the ribbon was truly lost. She had not been able to relocate the kind cameraman, and the pilgrimage group was to move on from Portugal into Spain.
Basilica of Nossa Senhora do Rosário. Fátima, Portugal Source
Two weeks later, the eve of the Feast of Corpus Christi, we were privileged to have several hours of exposition before Our Divine Lord in the Blessed Sacrament. Kneeling before the omniscient living God Who tells us with His own sacred lips, “Ask and you shall receive, seek and you shall find,” and for Whom nothing is impossible, if it redounds to His honor and glory, we commended to our Savior’s loving Heart our many intentions – including the missing ribbon.
The following day on the Feast, Sister’s Mum called unexpectedly to report that one of her fellow pilgrims, not willing to give up easily, was putting out messages to try to find the ribbon. Early evening on Corpus Christi one of the Sisters suggested the idea that, since it was a cameraman who took the ribbon, there must be camera footage of the Fatima May 13th evening Rosary; we might be able to find a broadcasting name. We found that EWTN had indeed done live coverage of the rosary and procession that night, and the commentator gave his name at the beginning of the coverage. We were able to contact that gentleman, and he very graciously returned our message and said he would be happy look into it for us. The only clue we had to give him was the first name of the young cameraman: Emmanuel.
Several days passed and we received a message that Mrs. C’s fellow-pilgrims were praying a chaplet to St. Anthony as a novena in preparation for his June 13th Feastday. Of course, part of the chaplet concerns lost objects, and they were inspired to ask St Anthony for the finding of the ribbon, as they were becoming more and more determined to see this mission for the Sisters accomplished. They were filled with enthusiasm that their prayers were at work and St. Anthony would hear their prayer. After all, this favor was in honor of the Blessed Mother! On the Feast of the Sacred Heart, June 7th, we received an update from our friend at EWTN: his colleague in Rome was scheduled to go to Fatima for a week and promised he would inquire after the missing ribbon.
As the days passed, Mrs. C let Sister know more about where she had taken the ribbon, and it came to light that the first day of the pilgrimage included visiting the church in Lisbon built over the St. Anthony’s birthplace. The lost ribbon had been touched to the major relics of the great Wonderworker himself! No wonder they were inspired to pray to this great Saint. Was it possible for the Saint to resist answering the petition when he was quite literally “wound up” in the ribbon himself?!
Besides all this, Mrs. C told us that the ribbon had been touched at the site of the 700-year ongoing Eucharistic miracle of Santarem. How fitting in Divine Providence that the ribbon be touched here, since Eucharistic reparation is so vital an element to the whole message of Fatima.
Early the morning after the Feast of St. Anthony, a marvelous surprise awaited. Our detective friends at EWTN, through their kind and diligent investigating, had found the contact information for our mystery cameraman! It seemed unlikely that he had held onto the ribbon for all of this time, and we wondered if he had ever been able to touch it to the Cova in the first place. But believing we would not have been brought this far without good reason, we reached out to him. We did not have to wait long to find out: Emmanuel left a phone message that very morning. With his permission we share that message with you. Which you can listen to here.
So we are happy to announce that through the efforts of several fellow Catholics from around the world and the intercession of St. Anthony, the relic finally made it’s way home to us, allowing us to complete our new Fatima relic badge for the edification and devotion of all of the faithful. As Emmauel told us – clearly Our Lady wanted this done! And we are happy to be able to spread the devotion to Her under this title. See our past newsletters for more information about this apparition.
And so ends this brief story, this “Carmelite adventure” that detailed some of the “behind the scenes” that goes on in the making and obtaining of the sacramentals we offer on our website.
“The future of our civilizations, our liberties, our very existence may depend upon the acceptance of her commands.” This was the conclusion reached by William Thomas Walsh, distinguished author, historian and teacher, after he had thoroughly investigated the miracle of Fatima, and in our own day, his remarks seem quite prophetic! Here is the whole remarkable story of the appearance of the Blessed Virgin Mary to three simple children at an obscure Portuguese village in 1917. Her prophecies of World War II and the rise of communism, her plea to humanity to do penance, her promise that world peace and the conversion of Russia would take place if her messages were heeded – these are some of the dramatic events in this fascinating account of a modern miracle.
We send this letter intentionally during “Our Lady’s 30 Days,” this month between the Feast of her Assumption, August 15th and the Feast of her Sorrows, September 15th. St. Anthony left his “signature” all over our little ribbon adventure story, but his Providential mark is also on the wondrous mystery of the Assumption. First of all, he was born on that Feast! And it was in God’s marvelous plan for his life that he would contribute heavily by the brilliance of his erudition to providing the scriptural and theological foundation for this glorious privilege of Our Lady to be proclaimed a dogma in our own modern time.
Biographers of the saint tell of a signal grace in St. Anthony’s life regarding his strong belief in the Assumption, a privilege of Our Lady long and reverently believed by all Christians. One August 14th, he was tempted to absent himself from the Divine Office; because, he recoiled against the expression of doubt that remained in the Martyrology announcing the Feast day, which read: “As yet the Church has given no decision upon the bodily Assumption of the Blessed Virgin, exercising a prudent reserve as to trivial or apocryphal legends…” But then and there, in his cell Our Lady appeared to him to assure him that she was indeed assumed body and soul into Heaven. This precious gift he did not consider for himself alone, but regarded it as a sign that God willed him to preach this mystery far and wide. Of course, this he did with a tender, ardent and loving zeal for the honor and glory of Our Lady.
With St. Anthony, many other saints and scholars worked for the definition of the dogma of the Assumption, so gloriously important and joyful for our souls and all souls the world over. You may wish to read the beautiful encyclical of Pope Pius XII, promulgated in 1950:MUNIFICENTISSIMUS DEUS. This beautiful apostolic constitution seems a fitting way to end this newsletter in honor of Our Lady. As Pope Pius the XII stated towards the end of this document: “ And so we may hope that those who meditate upon the glorious example Mary offers us may be more and more convinced of the value of a human life entirely devoted to carrying out the heavenly Father’s will and to bringing good to others. Thus, while the illusory teachings of materialism and the corruption of morals that follows from these teachings threaten to extinguish the light of virtue and to ruin the lives of men by exciting discord among them, in this magnificent way all may see clearly to what a lofty goal our bodies and souls are destined.”
How beautiful and full of hope are the dogmas of our Holy Faith! They are ever calling us to the joys of eternity. And how beautiful are God’s Saints, who guide us to that eternity!
In Our Lady,
Your Carmelite Sisters
*2026 Calendar*
The 2026 Liturgical Calendars are now available! It is the perfect daily companion for those wishing to live a deeper spiritual life in close connection with the Feast days and Liturgical year of the Church. And it is more than just a calendar. Printed in the back is an extensive index full of the basic Catholic prayers, truths of the Faith, and a listing of popular Patron Saints. Order the mini version as well – each month is printed on a small individual sheet that is easy to slip into a breviary, missal, or prayer book.
The Carmelite edition, which also displays the special Carmelite Feast days through out the year will be printed soon and are available for preorder.
